Posted on 09/24/2012 1:17:52 PM PDT by Dr. Thorne
PARIS (Reuters)- Germany's Roman Catholic bishops have decreed that people who opt out of a "church tax" should not be given sacraments and religious burials, getting tougher on worshippers who choose not to pay.
Alarmed by a wave of dissenting Catholics quitting the faith, the bishops issued a decree on Thursday declaring such defection "a serious lapse" and listed a wide range of church activities from which they must be excluded.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Glad I won’t be wearing vestments or a Bishop’s hat on Judgement Day...
If the priesthood had managed to keep homosexual predators out of the priesthood they would not be having this problem (as much).
The idea of letting the government collect church ‘donations’ is a bad one for many reasons.
So, does this mean that salvation is “for sale”? That the sacraments of our savior are available only to those who can pay for them?
It seems that money has perverted these folks.
A few relevant facts:
(1) In Germany, citizens have the option of either designating that 8% of their taxes go to a church, or of opting for that tax money to go directly to the state.
(2) German churches are allowed to forgo the tax and collect donations directly, but if they do, they have to turn over to the state all the tax information of their adherents.
(3) Nominal Catholics who do not support their Church still want to use churches for weddings, funerals, christenings and other functions - and expect that the choirs, organists, electricity, security and everything else should be paid for by the Catholics who actually designate the Church as their tax contribution.
So, what is being said here is simple: if you deliberately choose to fund the state instead of the Church, and yet expect the Church to spend scarce money and time that could be used for outreach and charity on your personal functions, then you should reexamine your assumptions.
No, that would be your bizarre and deliberate misinterpretation of the actual facts.
Correct. It was an expedient adopted to avoid civil war. It is not a good idea on its own merits.
Should bishops ignore the needs of faithful and deliberately reward the unfaithful? Is that their job?
And how is any of that good?
We're discussing the lesser of two evils.
The Church does not enjoy being beholden to the state.
“We have ways of making you pray.....”
;^)
I thought the selling of indulgences was done away with long ago...
Last time I was in Deutschland ya, they talked about the Church tax and it’s huge. Not only that, people think they’re clever and try to opt out. Well, if you opt out, you can’t attend a Church, any functions, receive sacraments. You’re cut off.
Their Church’s were magnificent.
Priests refuse confession to them as well don’t they?
I do not support having government collect church taxes. Having said that, if that is the German system then I hope all German Catholics will find it in their hearts to pay the tax or at least pay a good contribution or tithe directly to their church (which is how I think it should be done). The traditional houses of faith (RCC, Lutheran, Calvinist, or the few Jews who remain alive there) ... seem to be just about the only segments of European society these days that can, sometimes anyway, be counted on to stand up for positive principles and values. Europe needs the church more now than at any time since at least the 1930’s....(and America is not currently available, given the Occupant of the WH, to help Europe if it falls any further into the abyss...)
That only applies to the churches that are Catholic, doesn't it? Won't Christian, non-Catholic churches still accept them?
Not to my knowledge.
The Evangelical churches actually receive a higher proportion of state taxes than the Catholic Church does.
They aren't excited with freeloaders either.
Pray tell, where am I misinterpretating the facts? It appears that if you don't pay up, you are denied sacraments. Thus, if it's about money - those sacraments must be "for sale". It's quite logical, and seems pretty evident that this is the case.
So it does only apply to Catholic churches then, the Christian, non-Catholic churches will still interact with non-payers of the tax.
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